The Republicans are trying to Swift Boat Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor who is running as Kamala Harris’ vice-presidential candidate.
Give me a break.
By the way, the term “Swift Boating” came about in 2004 when a group of Swift Boat veterans, presumably Republicans, attacked Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry’s service as a Swift Boat commander during the Vietnam War. The Navy used Swift Boats to patrol South Vietnam’s rivers. They were part of what was called the Brown Water Navy. One claim was that Kerry only served to further his political career. Possibly true. But he still put his life on the line. My favorite was the former Navy doctor who claimed Kerry didn’t deserve a Purple Heart because his injuries were caused by shrapnel from his own boat. That ignores the fact that the only way that could have happened was when the boat was hit by an enemy RPG. Hint: That qualifies.
Now Republicans, especially Senator J.D. Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, are attacking Walz because after 24 years of honorable service in the National Guard, Walz decided to retire to run for Congress. Let’s see, Walz enlisted when he was 17.
That means he retired at 41. That’s kind of pushing the age when you should be deploying to a combat zone.
Walz is accused of bailing out before his unit was sent overseas. He was the top enlisted man in his outfit. Apparently, he had been thinking of retiring to run for the House for some time. And when he did retire, his unit had not been alerted for deployment. Some of his opponents say the word was that the unit would be deploying. I think anyone who has served knows it only counts when the word is official. And then, maybe.
Vance cites his military service as a Marine. He was deployed to Iraq but did not serve in a combat roll. He was a correspondent. He served four years and was discharged as an E-4, a corporal.
Walz was an E-9, a command master sergeant. Since, when he retired, he had not finished the course work to keep that rank, he retired as a master sergeant, an E-8. Few people make it to E-8, let alone E-9, the highest enlisted rank.
That, according to Vance, is stolen valor.
I think the only thief here is Vance – stolen honesty.
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